Pivoted low center of gravity animated toy



Aug. 29, 1950 R. SLATER 5 PIVOTED LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY ANIMATED TOY Filed Oct. 10, 19,49 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 yrwfivfl i i lili iiillilll I Aug. 29, 1950 R. SLATER PIVOTED LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY ANIMATED TOY Filed Oct. 10, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BY yak Jim/er A T'TOENEYS' Patented Aug. 29, 1950 PIVOTED LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY ANIMATED TOY Reginald Slater, Columbus, Ohio Application October 10, 1949, Serial No. 120,559

-8 Claims. 1

The present invention relates in general to animated toys appropriate for use as display or amusement devices, and more particularly to animated toys having one or a plurality of figures or other type characters which are continuously activated to simulate life-like movement.

The invention is especially concerned with animated toys having elements representing human characters, or letters of a sign, or the like, particularly comical human characters, which are continuously agitated in a haphazard fashion such that their movements substantially correspond to or suggest movements of human characters, particularly in the relative movements between the several characters. The arrangement of the figures and of their associated agitating mechanisms are such as to render the device particularly appropriate for attractive window display signs and the like capable of attracting and maintaining the attention of observers and perspective shoppers and the like.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is the provision of a mechanical toy having one or a plurality of characters adapted to exhibit animated movement, which device is of simple construction and operation, which is highly durable and substantially fool-proof in operation, and which may be produced and sold at comparatively low cost.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel mechanical toy having a plurality of associated elements representing the figures of human beings, adapted to exhibit animated movements, in which the figures are so arranged and driven as to cause life-like relative movement between the figures.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel mechanical toy adapted to impart life-like movement to a plurality of human simulating figures, whichhas a high degree of audience appeal, which is attractive in appearance, and which is particularly adaptable for use for window display and public advertising purposes. 7 7 I Other objects, advantages'and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein only a preferred embodiment and one modification of the invention are illustrated.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an animated mechanical toy embodying the present invention, illustrating both the figures and the driving, and supporting mechanism therefor;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section taken through the longitudinal center of the driving and supporting mechanism along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; 1

Figure 4 is a side elevation of one of the animated figures, illustrating the construction of the figure;

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section of one of the bearing spools incorporated in the construction of the animated figures, taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is an exploded vertical transverse section view of the preferred form of the ball-bearing spool employed in the construction of the animated figures.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the several figures, the reference character l0 designates a rectangular base plate supporting the various components of the device. having upright supporting brackets II and I2 mounted thereon having sockets formed at the upper ends thereof for journalling the ends of the driving spindle or rod l3 upon which animated figures l4 and [5 are supported. The spindle I3 is preferablyformed of a hollow tubular section fitted at eachend with a projecting cylindrical element of smaller diameter than that of the tubularsection to extend into the socket in the brackets H and I2.

The drive mechanism for the spindle l3 comprises an electric motor [6 of low horsepower rating, of a suitable commercially available type, mounted on the base. plate [0 and coupled to a conventional commercial supply voltage source through electrical conductor H. A manually operable switch I8 of the conventional push-button starting switch variety is coupled in series with one of the supply leads I! andmounted on the base plate ID to provide for manual starting and stopping of the motor 16. V

The output shaft l9 of. the electric motor I6 is intercoupled, through a suitable resilient belt or the like 20, to an appropriately sized pulley on an idler pulley cone 2| freely rotatable on an axle bracket 22 mounted on the base plate I0. Other axle brackets for additional pulley cones, such as the auxiliary axisbracket 23, may be mounted on the base plate H) to provide additional stages of speed multiplication or reduc, tion. Another pulley on the pulley cone 2| is intercoupled through a suitable resilient endless belt or the like 24 to a pulley cone 25 sebf theiiiner bearinglsurface .42; V halkb aring-eleinentl l.comprises outerand inposed median within the ring 45.

cured to an end extension shaft 26 on the spindle It by means of a set screw 21. The choice of the radial diameter of the pulleys on the idler pulley cone 2! and the spindle drive pulley cone 25, which are intercoupled to the motor drive shaft 20, is made so that the speed of the spindle l3is somewhere between the range 290 to 450 ,7 revolution per ,minute for the particular ,electric motor employed. The spindle is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 3 in the embodiment illustrated.

Suitable guard discs of greater diameter than the spindle 43 are mounted on each end of the' spindle. An annular guard disc 3% movable axially along the spindle l3 is provided at the end of the spindle adjacent the upright bracket Ii, the annular disc 30 being positioned "by coil springs 3i secured at one end to the annular disc 35? and at the other end to a fixed mounting discfiZ coupled to the rotary spindle 13. A fixed guard disc/33 is ,mounted on the other end of the rotary spindle l3, and carries an inwardly extending, projection 34 on the inner face thereof. "Thefigures l4 and i5 constituting'the animated characters of the device are formed of shaped body elements representmg various human ,fig-

; ur e, such as clowns, cowboys, farmers andhoboes, policemen and thieves, and the like, and aremounted onacylindrical spool-like device, indicated generally at '35, similar to a single row radial pallJ-bearing. :The body elements of the animated characters are mounted ,on a flexible str p indicatedat 3'5, adapted t d sp in fsurrpund grel iens h he ou r P phery of v th ishes-. rlfiaiand s p o d w th s ap type fasteners '37, 31 at the ends of thefabric straps to secure the figures on the spools 35, the head and feet member of the f u es .in i le le tallyet #1 a d, b n i p d in d am tr callv a e rela ion b utthe p ,Ea h spo i en t ucted s h t i s o t p r ph r ma em in st t onary Whi e he inner porti may o a eely wi hfthe spindle 13 r pen ,whizchrthe .speol 13 re di p sed in 1. eu dine 'elation.- The i ner and route p ol el m nts shou d be p ovided with a substantially fri tionle ,interepnpl e, a pr f rred example o the on t uct 'sm Di whiehis shown in deta n The preferred embodiment of thev sh al il strated in Fi u e indicated generally by the reference character 49;, comprises an ente tubular-band or ring, Al having a cyl n- Qrital outer .periphery and having a cylindri- Qal nn rhearing surface 42- centrally disposed along the inner surface of the tubular ring 4.1,"

l iball=bearing race defining rings .45

Ia ball-bearing retaining ring 2 5 115995941 ,therebetween positioning ball-bearings t8. 'Theele'ment 44 is adapted to b disposed within ,theiouter band ll, with the outer periphveral s1,1 rf ac e'Qofthe ring A5 bearing a ainst the inner bearing surface and abutting the inset ledge'a. A narrow bearing ridge 49, constructed in the form of .a removable ring, is secured ,to the inner surfac of the inner ring and is dis- Face plate I minute.

secured to the annular face 5! of one of the lateral annular face elements, such as 56.

If a human type animated figure, such as shown in Figure 4, is employed, the head and arm portions, indicated at 38, are all constructed of light material, such as plastic, cork, Wood or the like, and the leg and foot portions 33 are of weighted .material so that the figure remains in an erect position. 7 For example the legs may be formed with metal rivets, such as the rivets shown in Figure 4 with weighted metallic cast feet secured to the bottom thereof and the legs covered with a fabric arranged in the form of the clothing of the particular character. The figures are balanced by the weighting and positioning of the head and feet of the figure, so that the principal-axis Of the figure is inclined slightly forwardly, when the figure is mounted on the rotary spindle is Wlthzthi? spool 35 surrounding the spindle. This is so that the figures will be rotatedinto an erect position during. rotation of the spindle I13 due to the friction between the spool, and the pindle;

An alternative form of spool which may be employed which is equally as effective to produce animated movements of the characters, l but which is somewhat more expensive to produce, is illustratedin Figure 5. In this embodimentthe spool is constructed of an assemblage 5Q, comprisin an outer tubular ring or band 6|, having arcuately curvedrecesses 62,152 extending around thering 55 along the inner surface at the lateral edges jthereofladapted to form a ball-bearing race withthe outer concavely shaped peripheral surface "53 Of theinner band or ring 64. Within the ball-bearing race, 'a suitable ball-bearing retaining ring is disposed, positioning and spacing ball-bearings :55 about the axis of the spool. Theinner ring 64 is formed with a lateral 7 portion extending to each side of the ends of the outer ri g 15B, formingannular ring shaped face E6, .855. ,A suitable inwardly projecting bearingiridge .5] is provided ,at the inner surface of theinner ring 64 which rides upon thesurface 7 of therotary spindle 53 when the spool Ellis dislows;

Throughout the description of the operation of the device, the form of spool employed with the figures i4 and i5 is that illustrated in Figure 6 or the drawing and referred to as the preferred term. r 7

Upon depression of the push button starting and stopping switch [8 in the supply line I] to the electric motor 16, the electric motor is en- 'er-gized, rotating theoutput shaft l9 to drive the spindle .l3-in ,a clockwisezdirectionas viewed in Figure 3, at a speed determined by the particular pulleys on the pulleyconesZl and 25 to which the resilient belts 20' and. .24 are coupled. The speed of rotation of the drive shaft 13- of the ,motor is multiplied ,or reduced by appropriate selection .of pulleys on the pulley cones 2i and 25 to yield a speed of rotation for the spindle it within the range 200 to 450 revolutionsper The inner diameter bf thespools 3,5 is some- "whatgreater than that of the spindle l 3' sothat,

as the bearing ridge .49 of the spool 35 is in engagement with the 'upwardly'disposed portion only of the periphery of the spindle I3, rotation of the spindle I3 Will impart like rotation to the inner ball-bearing race defining ring 46, and the laterally extending faceplate elements 5!] and 50' while the outer ring 4| is restrained from rotation by the weighted foot portion39 -of the figures I4 and I5. It will be apparent that if the plane of orientation of the spool element 35 is not exactly perpendicular to the axis of the spindle I3, the spool 35 and the figures I4, I5, coupled therewith will travel in a direction lengthwise of the spindle I3 toward the end of the spindle in the direction of which the front of the figure I4, I5 is dis-posed. That is to say, if the front of the figure I4, for example, is facing slightly toward theend of the spindle I3 carrying the annular disc 30 rather than facing exactly forwardly of the device, the figure will travel in that direction, as the angular relation of the portion of the bearing ridge 49 in engagement with the upper portion of the peripheral surface of the spindle I3 will correspond to a segment of a helical path about the surface of the spindle I3 rather than corresponding to a portion of a circle about the axis lying in a plane at right angles to the axis of the spindle. However, as a certain amount of friction occurs between the bearing ridge 49' of the spool 35 and the spindle I3, the figures I4, I5 will be vibrated in a somewhat pendulum-like fashion, varying the angular relation between the portion of the bearing ridge 49 engagingthe surface of the spindle I3 and the axis of the spindle so that the figure moves back and forth in a jostling, bobbing, weaving motion simulating human movements and actions.

The projector lugs on thelateral faces of rotating portion of spools 35, such as the lugs 53, are provided to jostle the adjacent figure when an annular face'5l of one of the spools comes into contact with an adjacent annular face of another spool apart to prevent the spools remaining together during continued rotation of the spindle I3. The annular end disc 33 is likewise provided with a projection 34 for abruptly moving the spool away from the disc 33 when a spool 35 comes in contact therewith, and an annular disc 30 resiliently coupled through springs 3| to the fixed mounting disc 32 likewise resiliently urges the spools'away from the annular disc-0 to urge the spools to remain near th longitudinal center of the spindle. I3:

The resulting bobbing, weaving, jostling and shoving movements produced in the figures mounted on the spindle I3 present a very comic and amusing appearance, and stimulate great interest and audience attraction in the device. The movements imparted to the figuresare particularly appropriate for comic pairs, such as a sheriff and bandit; farmer and hobo (as shown in Figure 1); policeman and drunk; a pair of tramps; and many similar comic characters. The particular choice of characters is, of course, no part of the present invention, but the particular movements imparted to the figures render the device especially entertaining when such comic characters are employed.

While only one particular embodiment and one modification of the invention have been particularly shown and described, it is distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but that various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the scope thereof, and it is desired that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are impart posed by the prior art and are, set forth in the appended claims. 1

What is claimed is:

1. An animateddisplay device comprising, a shaft journaled for rotation about a horizontal axis, driving means coupled thereto imparting rotation to said shaft, figures movably supported on said shaft, said figures each comprising a body mounted on a spool member having a freely rotatable bearing ring inwardly thereof surrounding and bearing against said shaft, the diameter of said bearing ring being substantially greater than that of said shaft to permit angular movement of said spool member relative thereto, whereby rotation of said shaft will imirregular animated movements to said figures.

2. An animated display device comprising, a spindle having a smooth cylindrical surface journaled for rotation about a horizontal axis, driving means for imparting rotation to said spindle, a plurality of object-simulating figures movably supported on-said spindle, said figures each comprising bodymeans mounted on an outer ring member, an inner ring member having a central opening of greater diameter than that'of said spindle intercoupled with said outer ring member for rotation relative thereto, and a narrow bearing ridge formed on the inner surface of said inner ring member and bearing on said spindle, whereby rotation of said spindle will impart irregular animated movements to said figures.

3. An animated display device comprising, a spindle having a smooth cylindrical surface journaled for rotation about a horizontal axis, drivin means for imparting constant continuous rotatio'n to said spindle, a plurality of obiect-simulating figures movably supported on said spindle, said figures each comprising body means mounted on an outer ring member, an inner ring member intercoupled with said outer ring memher for rotation relative thereto, said inner ring member having a central opening and a narrow bearing ridge formed on the inner surface thereof bearing on said-spindle in surrounding relation therewith, said central opening and hearing ridge being of a diameter greater than that of said spindle to permit angular movement of said ring members relative to the axis of said spindle for causing intermittent movement of the figures in the same direction and in opposite directions in an irregular animated fashion.

4. An animated display device comprising, a spindle having a smooth cylindrical surface journaled for rotation about a horizontal axis, driving means for imparting constant continuous rotation to said spindle, a plurality of figures representing human characters movably supported on said spindle, said figures each comprising a body having head and foot portions mounted on an outer ring member and having weighted means in said foot portion for maintaining said body substantially erect, an inner ring member intercoupled with said outer ring member for rotation relative thereto, said inner ring member having a central opening and a narrow bearing ridge formed on the inner surface thereof bearing on said spindle in surrounding relation therewith, said central opening and bearing ridge being of a diameter greater than that of said spindle to permit angular movement of said ring members relative to the axis of said spindle for causing intermittent movement of the figures in the same 7 anagram 7 direction and apposite di-i ecltions a irregm' laranimated fashion. i

5. An animated display device comprising; 'a spindle having a smooth cylindrical surface journaled for rdtation about a horizontal axis, Jd'riving ineans for imparting'ecnstant continuousiroation to said spindle, a plurality of figures repre'e sent-mg character's movably supported on said spindle, said figures each comprising a body having headand icot' pertions mounted on an outer ring member and having weighted means in said ioct portion 'ior maintaining said body substantially erect, 'an inner ring member intercoupled Withsaiid outer ring member for rotation relative therete, and inner ring member having a central opening and a narrow bearing ridge formed on the inner surface thereof bearing on spindle in is 'rroun'ding" relation" therewith, "said central opening 'bearlngiridge being of diameterfg'reater than that of said spindleto permit mdve r nent oflsaid 'ri'n'g masters relative'fto the axis of spindle for causing intermittent movement or tnefigu'r'es in the same direction and inoppcsite directions'inaniirrggm lar fashion; said inner ring member s also hang annular lateral f-a'ces'fornii'ng means extending laterally 'theref m'm. bf "said outer ring member and having proiec'tion'ineans thereon engaging a correspo'nchnglaterai face of the other-oi said figm'esand abruptly force the figures apart when thesaline'come into engagement with oth'er :cn' thespiirzlle. r 6. An animated display device comprising, a spindle having-a smooth cylindrical surface journaled-for rotation about a horizontal axis, driv- 'means for imparting constant continuous r0- tation to said-spindle, a plurality of figures representing human characters movably' supported on said spindle, said figures each comprising a body having head and foct portions mounted on an m-Iter-ring -memher and having weighted =means said central opening and bearing ridge being of a diametergreater than that of said spindle to wermit angular movement of said ring members 3 relative tothe axis of said spindle for causing V intermittentmovement of the figures in the same direction and in opposite directions in an irregular animated fashion, said inner ring member also having annular lateral facesforming means extending laterally therefrom ofsaid outer ring member and having projectionmeans thereon engaging a corresponding lateral face of the other o f said figures and abruptly force the figures apart when the same come into engage- 8 ment with each other onrthe spindle, andmea secured at :each end of said rotary spindle urging said xfigures toward 1 the longitudinal 'cerrteref said spindle when said :figures come into engage ment with said-means.

"7. An animated display device comprising, a spindle having a smooth cylindrical surface journaled for rotation about -a horizontal axis, drivin'g means ior imparting constant continuous rocation to said spindlaa plurality ofobject-simulating figures movably supported on said spindle, a radial ball-bearing element for each of said figures, said figures each comprising body-means mounted on an outer -ball-hea1ingracedefining ring of saidi-rad-ial ball-bearing element, the inner ball-bearing racedefimng-ringoi said radial ballbearing element being disposedinsurroundi-ng relation with said spindleand having anarrow bearing ridge formed on the -inner*suria'ce of said-inner race defining ringof greater diameter than that of said spindle and bearing an said spindle, for causing intermittent movement'of "said figures in the same and opposite directions along said spindleenrotation-of said spindle.

animated display device comprising, a spindle having asmooth cylindrical surface journaied for rotationzabouta horizontal axis driving means for imparting constant continuous rotation to said spindle; a plurality "of "fig-uresarepresenti-ng human -'characters-movably supported on said spindle, a :radial ball-bearing element for eachof said figures-said figures each compris= ing a body havinghead and'ioot portions mounted on an'outer ball-bearing race defining ring member of said radial ball-bearing element, each figure having weighted means'said -foot'portion for maintaining said-bodysubstantially erect, the inner ball-bearing race defining of said radial :ba-ll bearing element being disposed in surrounding relation" with said spindle and 7 having a narrow bearing ridge formed 'on the inner surface of said inner race defining ring-cf greater "diameter than that of-said spindle-and bearing on'said spindle, :for causing intermittent move- :45 ment of said figures .in'the samefandopposite directions along :said spindle onwr'otation'of said spindle.

I REFERENCES CITED- The fouowi'n 'reiernces are of'rec'o'rd in the fil 9 .i i ia .r. A 7

UNITED STATES PATENTS REGINALDSLATER; 

